Threats to and viability of the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Pilosa: Myrmecophagidae), in a protected Cerrado remnant encroached by urban expansion in central Brazil

Urbanization poses a serious threat to wildlife populations inhabiting native vegetation remnants surrounded by the expanding urban and suburban sprawl. The close contact with human activities causes not only direct impacts, such as habitat loss, but also indirect negative effects, such as population isolation, roadkills and anthropogenic fires. The Parque Nacional de Brasília is a large Cerrado remnant almost completely surrounded by the city of Brasília, in central Brazil. Here, we use population viability analysis to model the impacts of urbanization on a population of Myrmecophaga tridac...